Tuesday, March 1, 2011

'Ordinary Mind', artist talk at MIA, 11 Feb 2011

On my trip back to Kuala Lumpur between Jan and Feb 2011, an artist talk entitled ‘Ordinary Mind’ was organised for the students and lecturers at Malaysian Institute of Art (my former art college). Attended by around 30 people, the talk discussed my studio practice that led to my PhD research. It presented a body of work that I produced in the UK since 2000 follows by an open discussion.


From left: Ms Lo Bee Eng (president) and Mr Liew Soo Wong (head of Fine Art)




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Welcome to the ground

Thank you for stopping over. The Ground We Share evolves from my research study where I make a comparative study between the concepts of the everyday in art practice and Zen.

My art practice may be seen as the result of my interest on the matters of the everyday and Eastern thoughts. Over the years, I have produced a body of cross-disciplinary work that explores the as-it-is-ness of things, and interconnectedness between objects and people. My own cultural background and life experience are often revisited, examined and evidenced in the work within this journey of exploration.

In Zen tradition, mindfulness to everyday trivial is important in their spiritual pratice, my research relates this notion of attentiveness from my work to this tradition. Historically, many important twentieth century artists and art groups who expanded Duchamp’s theory of the ready-made and the everyday were also influenced by Zen teaching from D.T. Suzuki and Shunryu Suzuki that can also be related to this research.

In contrast to the Western sociological perspective on the study of the everyday from important thinkers like Henri Lefebvre and Michel de Certeau; I look at it from a different perspective - through the prism of a contemporary artist that comes from an Eastern background.

This blog provides a space to share my activities and information arising from my work and research. You are welcome to be part of this interconnection by posting your valuable experience, thoughts and comments.